1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire harness mounting construction in which a wire harness is arranged and installed on a mounting structural member such as a vehicle body.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 10-127362, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire harness for connecting an electric system in an automobile is arranged and installed in a vehicle body, and is fixed at predetermined positions in the vehicle body by fastening members (e.g. clips) and elongate case-like protectors which receive the wire harness for protection purposes.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show one example of a construction of fixing a wire harness on a vehicle body by the use of clips and protectors. As shown in FIG. 7, the wire harness 1 is branched at predetermined portions thereof, and is connected to various equipments, mounted on the automobile, through electric connectors 2 connected respectively to distal ends of the branches of the wire harness. The wire harness 1 thus arranged is fixed to the vehicle body at predetermined positions by the clips 3 and the protectors 4.
FIG. 8 shows an example of a mounting construction in which the wire harness 1 is mounted on an instrument panel 5. Two clips 3 are fixedly secured respectively to two adjacent mounting portions of the wire harness 1 by adhesive taps 4 wound on the wire harness. Two mounting holes 6, corresponding respectively to these clips 3, are formed through the instrument panel 5 on the vehicle body. The clips 3 are inserted respectively into the mounting holes 6 (as by undercut fitting) with one touch with a feeling of a resilient click, thereby fixing the wire harness 1 to the instrument panel 5.
FIG. 9 shows a construction in which a mounting structural member is other part than the instrument panel, and the wire harness 1 is installed on and fixed to that portion of the vehicle body in the vicinity of a door. In this case, a flange 8 is formed on a mounting portion of the vehicle body 7, and a mounting hole 9 for receiving the clip 3, shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, is formed through the flange 8. The flange 8 and the mounting hole 9 are provided at the vehicle body 7 by the use of a die.
FIG. 10 shows another wire harness mounting construction, that is, a branch wire harness support construction disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 8-282406.
In this case, a main wire harness 13 and a branch wire harness 14 are resiliently held between a pair of resilient grip piece portions 11 and 12.
The above-described wire harness mounting constructions have problems to be overcome.
In the case of the construction shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the wire harness 1 is fixed to the instrument panel 5 of the vehicle body, and therefore the clips 3 of a special configuration must be prepared by the necessary processing. And besides, each clip 3 is fixedly secured to the wire harness 1 by the adhesive tapes 4 wound on the wire harness, and therefore the number of the parts, required for the fixing operation, increases, and much time and labor are required, which leads to a disadvantage that the cost increases because of the cost of the parts and the increased time and labor for the operation. Furthermore, the mounting holes 6, corresponding in number to the clips 3, must be formed accurately at predetermined intervals through the instrument panel 5, and thus the dimensional accuracy is required, which increases the overall production cost.
In the case where the wire harness is mounted on other portion of the vehicle body 7 than the instrument panel as shown in FIG. 9, the flange 8 must be formed on the vehicle body 7, and the clip mounting hole 9 must be formed through this flange. The formation of this flange by the die is complicated, and this contributes to the high cost.
In the case of the wire harness support construction shown in FIG. 10, the direction of resilient support of the main and branch wire harnesses 13 and 14 is limited. Namely, the gap between distal ends 11a and 12a of the grip piece portions 11 and 12 must be directed laterally (right or left) or upwardly so that the two wire harnesses 13 and 14, resiliently held between the two grip piece portions, will not be disengaged therefrom. Therefore, the direction of moving of the hand for snappingly inserting the two wire harness 13 and 14 between the grip piece portions 11 and 12 is predetermined, and this lowers the efficiency of the operation.
And besides, the wire harness support construction of FIG. 10 is designed to resiliently grip only those wire harnesses having a circular cross-section, and is not suited for so-called flat cables having a flattened cross-section, and therefore is not sufficiently versatile since the kinds of wires or cables to be supported are limited.